INNOCUOUS SERPENTS. 127 



we may particularly observe, that the former exclusively in- 

 habit the sea or the land, that they do not climb trees,* 

 and that they never frequent fresh water, with the excep- 

 tion, perhaps, of some species of Naja. 



INNOCUOUS SERPENTS. 



In distributing the Serpents not venomous into families, 

 I have chiefly kept in view their mode of living. Those 

 sections vdiicli have little importance as regards organiza- 

 tion, have only been adopted for the purpose of facilitating 

 a review of species. 



The Fiy^st Family comprehends the Bwr owing Snakes, 

 the only genus of which is the 



TO RTRIX. 



We may assign to them as distinctive marks — a cylmdric 

 bod}'^, with almost the whole trunk of the same dimen- 

 sions ; a short and conical tail ; a small obtuse head, of 

 the same diameter as the trunk, and covered with plates 

 imperfectly developed ; small eyes ; narrow nostrils ; a 

 mouth but little cleft ; the tympanites very massive ; the 

 teeth short and conical ; in fine, a certain resemblance to 

 the Amphisbagna and Typhlops. The Tortrices often exhi- 

 bit hooks at the anus ; they inhabit hot countries in both 

 worlds, they never leave the ground in which they dig 

 burrows. We only know five species. I place at the 

 head of the genus- — 



1. ToRTRix ScYTALE of Surinam, remarkable by its 

 slender trunk, filiform and ringed with black and red ; the 

 eyes are placed in the centre of the ocular plate ; the short 

 tail is very obtuse ; it sometimes grows to the length of 

 3 feet ; scuta 225 -|- 12. The second species,f 



2. ToRTRix RUFA comcs from Java and Celebes, where 



* The Trigonocephalus viridis is an exception to this rule, in so 

 far as it has the habit of attaching itself by its prehensile tail to branches 

 of shrubs, to watch for its prey. 



t [M. Schlegel always indicates the number of abdominal and sub- 

 caudal scuta by this symbol ; the first number being the abdominal, the 

 latter the subcaudal^ with the sign + (plus) between the numbers. — Tr.] 



